Enhanced real-time messaging

ABSTRACT

A system includes a gateway that is configured to receive a message from a source for transmission to a destination and multiple communication channels on which to transmit the message to the destination, where the communication channels include different types of communication channels. The system includes a decision engine that is operably coupled to the gateway and the communication channels. The decision engine is configured to select a first communication channel from the communication channels to route the message for transmission to the destination. The decision engine is configured to select a second communication channel from the communication channels to route the message for transmission to the destination in response to a period of time expiring without receiving an acknowledgement from the destination via the first communication channel, where the second communication channel is a different type of communication channel than the first communication channel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This description relates to systems and techniques for enhancedreal-time messaging.

BACKGROUND

One entity may send a message to another entity for delivery by adesignated type of single communication channel. Using a singlecommunication channel for delivery of the message may have an increasedrisk of the message not being delivered or not being delivered timely(i.e., being delivered late), for example, due to any incident along thedelivery chain. It may desirable to develop systems and techniques formore reliable delivery of messages.

SUMMARY

According to one general aspect, a system includes a gateway that isconfigured to receive a message from a source for transmission to adestination and multiple communication channels on which to transmit themessage to the destination, where the communication channels includedifferent types of communication channels. The system includes adecision engine that is operably coupled to the gateway and thecommunication channels. The decision engine is configured to select afirst communication channel from the communication channels to route themessage for transmission to the destination. The decision engine isconfigured to select a second communication channel from thecommunication channels to route the message for transmission to thedestination in response to a period of time expiring without receivingan acknowledgement from the destination via the first communicationchannel, where the second communication channel is a different type ofcommunication channel than the first communication channel.

In another general aspect, a computer-implemented method includesexecuting instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium. The method includes receiving a message from a sourcefor transmission to a destination. The method includes selecting a firstcommunication channel from multiple communication channels to route themessage for transmission to the destination, where the communicationchannels include different types of communication channels. The methodincludes selecting a second communication channel from the communicationchannels to route the message for transmission to the destination inresponse to a period of time expiring without receiving anacknowledgement from the destination via the first communicationchannel, where the second communication channel is a different type ofcommunication channel than the first communication channel.

In another general aspect, a system includes a gateway that isconfigured to receive a message from a source for transmission to amobile device running a mobile application and at least twocommunication channels on which to transmit the message to the mobiledevice including a web-socket communication channel and a secondcommunication channel that is different than the web-socketcommunication channel. The system includes a decision engine that isoperably coupled to the gateway and the at least two communicationchannels, where the decision engine includes a storage module forstoring routing information that is unique to the mobile device for theweb-socket communication channel and the second communication channel,where the routing information is different for the web-socketcommunication channel and the second communication channel. The decisionengine is configured to determine if a connection is active between theweb-socket communication channel and the mobile device prior toselecting the web-socket communication channel, select the web-socketcommunication channel to route the message for transmission to themobile device if the connection is active and select the secondcommunication channel to route the message for transmission to themobile device if the connection is not active. If the message was firsttransmitted using the web-socket communication channel, the decisionengine is configured to select the second communication channel to routethe message for transmission to the mobile device in response to aperiod of time expiring without receiving an acknowledgement from themobile device via the web-socket communication channel.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will beapparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for message delivery between asource and a destination.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system for message delivery between asource and a destination.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system for message delivery between asource and a destination.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a message delivery registration process.

FIG. 7 is an example block diagram of an example computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This document relates generally to systems and techniques fortelecommunications services. More specifically, this document relates tosystems and techniques for enhanced real-time messaging for sending amessage from a source to a destination through a system that isconfigured to route the message for transmission over at least one ofmultiple different communication channels. The communication channel maybe selected based upon one or more rules. The selected communicationchannel may include an acknowledgment that the message was delivered tothe destination. If an acknowledgment is not received within aconfigurable period of time, the system may route the message fortransmission on a different communication channel. Other criteriaincluding, for example, presence information, time preferences andgeographic location, may be used to determine if and when to route themessage for transmission on a different communication channel.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for message delivery between asource and a destination. The system 100 includes a source 102, adestination 104 and an intermediary 106. The intermediary 106 is capableof receiving messages from the source 102 and routing the messages tothe destination 104. While the intermediary 106 may be described hereinas capable of routing messages from the source 102 to the destination104, it is understood that the communication of messages may bebi-directional between the source 102 and the destination 104 throughthe intermediary 106.

The source 102 may initiate the sending of a message to the destination104. The source 102 may represent any type of computing device that isconfigured to send and/or receive messages. The source 102 isrepresentative of any computing device and/or entity at which thecomputing device is located prior to receipt of the message at theintermediary 106. While in this example, the source 102 is illustratedas a single block, the source 102 is representative of multipledifferent sources that communicate messages through the intermediary 106to one or more different destinations.

In some implementations, the source 102 may designate whether a messageor messages originating from the source 102 are communicated through theintermediary 106. The source 102 may directly send a message or messagesto the intermediary 106 for routing to and/or delivery to thedestination 104. Other messages from the source 102 may not be routedthrough the intermediary 106. In this manner, the source 102 may controlwhether or not the messages to the destination 104 are communicatedthrough the intermediary 106. Of course, other implementations arepossible including, for example, all messages originating from thesource 102 may be communicated through the intermediary 106. Also, theintermediary 106 may be capable or configured to intercept some or allmessages originating from the source 102 for routing and delivery to thedestination 104. Additionally and/or alternatively, an entity other thanthe source 102 may be capable of or configured to control which messagesoriginating from the source 102 are communicated through theintermediary 106.

In a similar manner, the destination 104 may be capable of receiving themessage sent by the source 102 through the intermediary 106. Thedestination 104 may represent any type of computing device that isconfigured to receive and/or send messages. The destination 104 isrepresentative of any computing device and/or entity at which thecomputing device is located that receives the delivered message asrouted by the intermediary 106. While in this example, the destination104 is illustrated as a single block, the destination 104 isrepresentative of multiple different destinations that receive messagesthrough the intermediary 106 from one or more different sources.

The intermediary 106 is configured to receive the message from thesource 102 and to route the message on one or more communicationchannels for delivery to the destination 104. The intermediary 106includes options for routing and delivery of the message using differenttypes of communications channels. Further, as discussed above, thecommunications between the source 102 and the destination 104 may bebi-directional. Thus, the intermediary 106 is configured to receivemessages from the destination 104 for delivery to the source 102.

In some example implementations, the intermediary 106 may function as abridge or a hub between the source 102 and the destination 104. Also, asmentioned above the intermediary 106 may support message routing anddelivery of messages from multiple different sources to multipledifferent destinations. The intermediary 106 may be scalable toaccommodate providing the routing, delivery and other message-relatedservices between multiple different sources and multiple differentdestinations.

The intermediary 106 includes a gateway 108, multiple communicationchannels 110 a-110 n and a decision engine 112. The gateway 108 isconfigured to receive a message from the source 102. The gateway 108 mayfunction as an interface between the source 102 and the other componentsof the intermediary 106 for the initial receipt and handling of incomingmessages.

The gateway 108 may be configured to handle one or more different typesof protocols to receive incoming messages from the source 102. In oneexample implementation, the gateway 108 may include a hypertexttransport protocol (HTTP) or secure hypertext transport protocol (HTTPS)gateway to receive messages from the source 102 using an HTTP protocol.Other protocols including the short message peer-to-peer (SMPP) protocoland the simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) also may be included aspart of the gateway 108 such that the gateway 108 may include multipledifferent protocols for enabling the receipt of messages using differentprotocols. It is understood that other types of protocols may be used tocommunicate the message from the source 102 for receipt by the gateway108 and the gateway is programmed or programmable to receive messageusing being sent using the other types of protocols.

The communication channels 110 a-110 n include different types ofchannels or paths on which to communicate the message from theintermediary 106 to the destination 104. The intermediary 106 isscalable to handle multiple different types of communication channels.Examples of the different types of communication channels 110 a-110 ninclude a socket-based (e.g., web socket) communication channel, a shortmessage service (SMS) communication channel, an enhanced message service(EMS) communication channel, a multimedia messaging service (MMS)communication channel, an application-oriented communication channel, aninstant messaging (IM) communication channel, an electronic mail(e-mail) communication channel, a voice communication channel and socialmedia channels. It is understood that these examples are not meant tolimit the number or type of communication channels available in theintermediary 106 and that other communication channel types may beincluded.

In one example implementation, the intermediary at least include twocommunication channels: a first communication channel 110 a and a secondcommunication channel 110 b,where the first communication channel 110 ais a different type of communication channel than the secondcommunication channel 110 b.The first communication channel 110 a andthe second communication channel 110 b may be different communicationchannel types selected from the examples described above. In thismanner, the intermediary 106 has at least two different types ofcommunication channels 110 a,110 b on which to route a message from thesource 102 to the destination 104.

In one example implementation, the first communication channel 110 a mayinclude a socket-based communication channel such as a web-socketcommunication channel. The socket-based communication channel mayprovide push message or push notifications to the destination 104. Thesocket-based communication channel may include one or more features toprovide message transmission delivery to the destination 104. Forinstance, one feature of the socket-based communication channel is thatthere may be a unique, secure channel established between theintermediary 106 and the destination 104. The secure channel may beestablished using a unique channel identifier (ID), which is a shared IDbetween the intermediary 106 and the destination 104. For theintermediary 106, the unique channel ID may be stored for use in astorage module 113. The storage module 113 may store the unique channelID in a database or table, for instance, along with information thatassociates the unique channel ID with the particular destination such asa destination ID that can be used as part of a look up when sendingmessages to the particular destination.

Another feature of the socket-based communication channel is that aconnection between the intermediary 106 and the destination 104 may beestablished as a persistent connection. The persistent connectionbetween the intermediary 106 and the destination 104 may be checked bythe intermediary 106 to determine if the connection is active prior tosending the message using this communication channel. If the connectionis active, then the socket-based communication channel may be used totransmit the message to the destination 104. If the connection is notactive, then the second communication channel 110 b may be used totransmit the message to the destination 104.

Still another feature of the socket-based communication channel is thatit may provide bi-directional communication between the intermediary 106and the destination 104. In this manner, the destination 104 may providean acknowledgement of receipt of the message back to the intermediary106. The intermediary 106 may use the acknowledgement to determinewhether or not the message should be transmitted or re-transmitted usingthe second communication channel 110 b.For example, if the intermediary106 receives the acknowledgment from the destination 104, then theintermediary 106 knows that the message was delivered successfully. Theintermediary 106 would not need to send the message again on a differentcommunication channel. However, if the intermediary 106 does not receivean acknowledgement from the destination 104, then the intermediary 106can re-transmit the message on the second communication channel 110 b.Insome implementations, the intermediary 106 may wait a configurableperiod of time for the acknowledgement before re-sending the messageusing the second communication channel 110 b.

In the example implementation where the first communication channel 110a is a socket-based communication channel, the second communicationchannel 110 b may be any of the other types of communication channelspreviously described. In one implementation, the second communicationchannel 110 b may be a SMS communication channel. In this example, thedestination 104 may be a computing device capable of receiving SMSmessages, including for example a mobile device such as a mobile phone.The intermediary 106 may store information needing to send an SMSmessage to the destination 104 in the storage module 113.

If the device is a mobile phone, the information may include a mobilephone number that is stored in the storage module 113 and associatedwith the particular destination 104. The mobile phone number may becollected by the intermediary 106 as part of a registration process withthe destination 104, as discussed in more detail below. The informationmay be stored along with information needed to communicate with thedestination 104 using the other communication channels, including theunique channel ID for socket-based communications. The communicationinformation associated with a particular destination 104 may be part ofa destination profile that is stored in the storage module 113 in adatabase, table or other storage means that enables a look up of theinformation for use in delivery of messages to the destination 104.

As discussed above, if the intermediary 106 first attempts to deliverthe message using the socket-based communication channel and noacknowledgement is received from the destination 104 within a period oftime, then the intermediary 106 may send the message using the SMScommunication channel. In this manner, the source 102 has the benefit ofmultiple channels of communication to the destination 104 through theintermediary, where the source 102 only needs to transmit the messageone time. The intermediary 106 then processes the message for routingincluding using multiple different communication channels to transmitthe message to the destination 104.

In one example, one of the communication channels 110 a-110 n may be avoice communication channel. For instance, the voice communicationchannel may be the first communication channel 110 a,the secondcommunication channel 110 b or one of the other communication channels110 n.A message, such as a text message, may be sent from a source 102for delivery to a destination 104, such as a mobile subscriber using amobile phone. The intermediary 106 may receive the text message andconvert the text message to an audio message for transmission to thedestination 104. The intermediary 106 may select the voice communicationchannel for delivery of the converted text to audio message using amobile phone number of the mobile subscriber. That is, the intermediary106 may initiate a call to the mobile subscriber and transmit the audioof the text message to the mobile subscriber using the voicecommunication channel. The voice communication channel may be utilizedas designated by the source 102 for designated messages and/or asdesignated by the destination 104 in preferences and/or by capability toreceive such messages over the voice communication channel.

The intermediary 106 may send deliver receipts to the source 102 tonotify the source 102 of the of which communication channels wereattempted and which channels were successful in delivering the message.In this manner, the source 102 is informed of the message status interms of the communication channels attempted and the ones that weresuccessfully delivered.

The intermediary 106 includes the decision engine 112. The decisionengine 112 is operably coupled to the gateway 108 and to thecommunication channels 110 a-110 n.The decision engine 112 may includelogic and/or algorithms to determine the selection and routing of themessage on the various different communication channels. The decisionengine 112 may access and use the information stored in the storagemodule 113 to assist in the routing decisions.

The decision engine 112 may be configured to operate in various manners.In one implementation, the decision engine 112 may be configured toselect the first communication channel 110 a to route the message fortransmission to the destination 104. If an acknowledgement is notreceived within a period of time, then the decision engine 112 mayselect the second communication channel 110 b to route the message fortransmission to the destination 104. In this manner, the lack of anacknowledgement triggers the decision engine 112 to select a differentcommunication channel on which to re-transmit the message to help ensuresuccessful delivery of the message to the destination 104.

In other implementations, the decision engine 112 may be configured tocheck for an active connection between the first communication channel110 a and the destination 104 prior to selecting and routing the messageusing the first communication channel 110 a.If the connection isdetermined to be active, then the decision engine 112 selects and routesthe message to the first communication channel 110 a.The decision engine112 may follow the process described above with respect to receiving anacknowledgement to determine whether or not the message may need to bere-transmitted on a different communication channel. If the connectionis not active, then the decision engine 112 selects and routes themessage to the second communication channel 110 b.

In some implementations, the decision engine 112 may select and routethe message to the destination on multiple communication channels 110a-110 n simultaneously, for instance, using both the first communicationchannel 110 a and the second communication channel 110 b.The decisionengine 112 may use information from the source 102, the destination 104or message type information, all as may be stored in the storage module113, to determine whether to send the message on multiple communicationchannels 110 a-110 n simultaneously.

In other implementations, the decision engine 112 may use otherinformation provided by, collected from or otherwise attainable aboutthe destination 104 in order to select and route the message using oneor more of the communication channels 110 a-110 n.For instance, thedestination 104 may provide communication channel preferences and otherpreferences (e.g., day-of-week details, time-of-day details, presenceinformation, geographic location preferences, etc.) that the decisionengine 112 may take into account when selecting and routing the message.Also, the decision engine 112 may use location-based information for thedestination 104 to determine on which communication channel(s) to routethe message for transmission to the destination 104.

The intermediary 106 also may include an optional security module 114.The security module 114 may be used to provide security to the messages,such as encryption, authentication, authorization and access (AAA),prior to the message being transmitted to the destination 104. Variousdifferent encryption protocols may be implemented and used to secure thetransmission of the messages. Each of the communication channels 110a-110 n may have its own unique channel ID, as discussed above, and eachunique channel ID may include its own set of unique authorization andcipher keys.

Referring to FIG. 2, an example flowchart illustrates a process 200 forexample operations of the system of FIG. 1. Process 200 includesreceiving a message from a source for transmission to a destination(202). For example, with reference to FIG. 1, a gateway 108 at theintermediary 106 is configured to receive a message from a source 102for transmission to a destination 104 (202).

Process 200 includes selecting a first communication channel frommultiple communication channels to route the message for transmission tothe destination, where the communication channels include differenttypes of communication channels (204). For example, with reference toFIG. 1, the decision engine 112 at the intermediary 106 is configured toselect a first communication channel 110 a from multiple communicationchannels 110 a-110 n to route the message for transmission to thedestination 104. The multiple communication channels 110 a-110 n includedifferent types of communication channel, as discussed above withrespect to FIG. 1.

The decision engine 112 may default to select the first communicationchannel to route the message. The decision engine 112 also may use rulesor criteria to determine which communication channel to select to routethe message, where the rules and/or other criteria may be stored in thestorage module 113. The selection rules are discussed in more detailbelow with respect to FIG. 3.

Process 200 includes selecting a second communication channel from thecommunication channels to route the message for transmission to thedestination in response to a period of time expiring without receivingan acknowledgement from the destination via the first communicationchannel, where the second communication channel is a different type ofchannel than the first communication channel (206). For example, withreference to FIG. 1, the decision engine 112 at the intermediary 106 isconfigured to select the second communication channel 110 b to route themessage for transmission to the destination 104 in response to a periodof time expiring without receiving an acknowledgement from thedestination 104 via the first communication channel 110 a.The secondcommunication channel 110 b is a different type of communication channelthan the first communication channel 110 a.

In one example implementation, the first communication channel 110 a isa socket-based communication channel and the second communicationchannel 110 b is a SMS communication channel. The decision engine 112first selects the socket-based communication channel to route themessage to the destination 104, which may be a mobile phone device. Ifthe mobile phone device, which may be running a mobile application thatis configured to send and receive messages, does not acknowledge receiptof the message sent over the socket-based communication channel, thenthe decision engine 112 may select the SMS communication channel to sendthe message to the mobile phone.

The decision engine 112 may wait a configurable period of time for theacknowledgement. If the acknowledgement is received within theconfigurable period of time, then the decision engine 112 does not needto select the second communication channel 110 b to route the message.If the acknowledgement is not received within the configurable period oftime, then the decision engine 112 selects the second communicationchannel 110 b to route the message. Of course, it is understood that thedecision engine 112 may use rules or other criteria to select adifferent communication channel other than the second communicationchannel on which to route the message when an acknowledgement is notreceived. Also, the decision engine 112 may select multiplecommunication channels on which to route the message when anacknowledgement is not received.

The process 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be used by various types ofsources and destinations. In one example implementation, the source mayinclude a service provider such as a bank, Internet service provider orother provider, that uses a two-factor authentication process to enableaccess to services of the provider. Process 200 may be used as a portionof the two-factor authentication process to send a one-time artifactfrom the source through the intermediary to the destination. In thismanner, the process 200 helps to ensure timely and successful deliveryof the message (i.e., the one-time artifact) from the source to thedestination using one or more of the communication channels as may beappropriate.

For example, a bank customer may install a web application on a mobiledevice. The mobile device for the customer may correspond to thedestination 104. The web application may enable the customer to registerfor push notifications, which enables the customer to receive alerts onboth push notification and SMS channels. In this example, the pushnotifications may include a web socket-based communication channel. Thecustomer using the web application on the mobile device may register forthe push notifications, which enables the bank, as the source 102, tosend messages through the intermediary 106 using both push notificationchannels and SMS channels.

In one example, when the customer attempts a transaction which requiresa two factor authentication, the bank sends an HTTPS request to theintermediary 106. The decision engine 112 processes the message, whichperforms a check to see if the customer has registered to receive pushnotifications. The decision engine 112 may perform a look up in thestorage module 113 to check for the push notification registration.

If the customer has registered for push notifications and the mobiledevice is active, the decision engine 112 will dispatch the messageusing the push notifications channel to the customer's mobileapplication on the mobile device. If the customer has not registered forpush notifications or is not currently reachable (e.g., the pushnotification communication channel is not active), then the decisionengine 112 will dispatch the message using the SMS communicationchannel.

Referring to FIG. 3, an example flowchart illustrates a process 300 forexample operations of the system of FIG. 1. Process 300 includesreceiving a message from a source for transmission to a destination(302). For example, with reference to FIG. 1, a gateway 108 at theintermediary 106 is configured to receive a message from a source 102for transmission to a destination 104 (302).

Process 300 includes determining whether the first communication channelis a preferred communication channel in response to receiving a message(304). Determining whether or not the first communication channel is apreferred channel may include looking up a preferences or rules table tomake the preference determination. For example, the storage module 113may store a table that includes communication channel preferences thatmay take into account communication channel preferences of thedestination 104 and/or the source 102. The communication channelpreferences may include preferences related to time-of-week,time-of-day, geographic location, presence or active connection andother factors. The decision engine 112 may look up the communicationpreferences in the storage module 113 and determine which of thecommunication channels may be used. In one implementation, thecommunication channel preferences may be collected and stored in thestorage module 113 during a registration process, as discussed in moredetail below.

If the first communication channel is not the preferred communicationchannel, then a second communication channel is selected to route themessage for transmission to the destination (306). For example, withreference to FIG. 1, if the decision engine 112 determines the firstcommunication channel 110 a is not the preferred communication channel,then the decision engine 112 selects the second communication channel110 b to route the message for transmission to the destination 104.

If the first communication channel is the preferred communicationchannel, process 300 includes determining if a connection is activebetween a first communication channel and the destination prior toselecting the first communication channel (308). For example, withreference to FIG. 1, the decision engine 112 may determine if aconnection is active between the first communication channel 110 a andthe destination 104 prior to selecting the first communication channelto send the message. In one example implementation, the firstcommunication channel 110 a may be a socket-based communication channel,which is a persistent and secure channel with the destination 104. Thedecision engine 112 checks to see that the connection is active and notdormant or disconnected before select and routing the message to thefirst communication channel 110 a.While process 300 illustrates thedecision block 304 prior to the decision block 308, it is to beunderstood that the order of the decision blocks 304 and 308 may beswitched and/or performed nearly simultaneously.

Process 300 includes selecting the second communication channel to routethe message for transmission to the destination if the connection is notactive (306). For example, with reference to FIG. 1, if the decisionengine 112 determines the connection is not active between the firstcommunication channel 110 a and the destination 104, even if the firstcommunication channel is the preferred communication channel, then thedecision engine 112 does not select the first communication channel 110a and instead selects the second communication channel 110 b (306).While process 300 describes the making a selection between a firstcommunication channel and a second communication channel, it is to beunderstood that the selection may include other communication channelsas well.

If the first communication channel is the preferred communicationchannel, or at least the default communications channel, and the firstcommunication channel is active, then the first communication channel isselected to route the message for transmission to the destination (310).For example, with reference to FIG. 1, the decision engine 112 mayselect the first communication channel 110 a to route the message fortransmission to the destination 104.

Process 300 includes determining whether or not an acknowledgement wasreceived from the destination (312). The acknowledgment may include areturn message from the destination to the intermediary via the firstcommunication channel. The acknowledgement provides an indication to theintermediary that the message was successfully delivered to thedestination. If the acknowledgement was received, then a deliver receiptmay be sent to the source (314). The deliver receipt may be a messagefrom the intermediary 106 to the source 102 that indicates thecommunication channels over which the message was attempted and thecommunication channels over which delivery was successful orunsuccessful.

If no acknowledgement is received, then the second communication channelmay be selected to route the message for transmission to thedestination. For example, the decision 112 may select the secondcommunication channel 110 b to route the message for transmission to thedestination (104) if an acknowledgement is not received from thedestination within a pre-determined period of time.

Referring to FIG. 4, an example block diagram illustrates a system 400.The system 400 is an example implementation of the system 100 of FIG. 1.The system 400 also may perform the process 200 and 300 of FIGS. 2 and3, respectively. The system 400 provides an illustrative framework foran example implementation of the system 100, and more specifically, ofthe intermediary 106 of FIG. 1.

As a Mobile Subscriber (MS, for example a user of a Wireless Device (WD)such as inter alia a smartphone, a tablet computer, etc.) goes about herdaily activities, she may encounter any number of instances where shewill engage in an activity (e.g., a financial transaction) where shewould like to enhance the security of that activity. For example, theMS:1) She may wish to determine the balance of one of her (bank,brokerage, credit card, etc.) accounts; 2) She may wish to complete thepayment portion of a purchase (from, for example, an on-line retailer,etc.); 3) She may wish to transfer money between various of her (bank,brokerage, credit card, etc.) accounts, transfer money from one of her(bank, brokerage, credit card, etc.) accounts to someone else, transfermoney to someone else (perhaps another MS) with the amount of thetransfer (along with, for example, charges, fees, etc.) appearing on herWireless Carrier (WC) statement, etc.

The specific examples that were presented above are illustrative onlyand it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevantart that numerous other examples are easily possible and indeed arefully within the scope of the present disclosure.

The system 400 includes an intermediary 406, which also may be referredto as an Inter-Carrier Vendor (ICV). The ICV 406 may correspond to theintermediary 106 of FIG. 1, and perform the functions as described abovewith respect to intermediary 106.

The ICV 406 may, for example, be realized through any combination of,possibly inter alia, any one or more of (1) an element of a WC, anelement of a landline carrier, or multiple such elements workingtogether; (2) a Third-Party (3P) such as possibly inter alia a merchant,a Content Provider (CP, such as for example a news organization, anadvertising agency, a brand, etc.), a Service Provider (SP, such as forexample a bank, a financial institution, a provider of mobile services,etc.), etc.; (3) multiple 3P entities working together; (4) a servicebureau; (5) a message service provider, and/or (6) other entities.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the system 400 includes an ICV 406, which maybe disposed between, possibly inter alia, multiple WCs (WC₁ 414, WC₂416-WCz 118) on one side and multiple SPs (SP₁ 422-SPz 424) on the otherside and is, in effect, a horizontally and vertically scalable ‘hub’that may among other things ‘bridge’ all of the connected entities.Additional entities—such as inter alia CPs—may also connect to an ICV406.

The ICV 406 thus, as one simple example, may offer various routing,formatting, delivery, value-add, etc. capabilities that provide,possibly inter alia:

1) A WC WC₁ 414→WCz 118 (and, by extension, all of the MobileSubscribers (MSs, such as (MS₁ 402→MSa 404, MS₁ 407→MS_(b) 409, MS₁ 410→MS_(c) 412) that are serviced by the WC WC₁ 414→WC_(z) 418) withubiquitous access to a broad universe of SPs SP₁ 422→SP_(z) 424, and

2) A SP SP₁ 422→SP_(z) 424 with ubiquitous access to a broad universe ofWCs WC₁ 114→WC_(z) 418 (and, by extension, to all of the MSs (MS₁402→MS_(a) 404, MS₁ 407→MS_(b) 409, MS₁ 410→MS_(c) 412) that areserviced by the WCs WC₁ 414 →WC_(z) 418).

Generally speaking an ICV 406 may have varying degrees of visibility(e.g., access, etc.) to the (MS←→MS, MS←→SP, etc.) data, roaming,messaging, voice, signaling, etc. traffic.

A WC may elect to route just their out-of-network traffic to the ICV406. Under this approach the ICV 406 would have visibility (e.g.,access, etc.) to just the portion of the WC's traffic that was directedto the ICV 406 by the WC.

A WC may elect to route all of their traffic to the ICV 406. The ICV 406may, possibly among other things, subsequently return to the WC thatportion of the traffic that belongs to (i.e., that is destined for anentity of) the WC. Under this approach the ICV 406 would have visibility(e.g., access, etc.) to all of the WC's traffic.

While the discussion below may reference an ICV, it will be readilyapparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerousother implementation arrangements are equally applicable and indeed arefully within the scope of the present disclosure.

As just one example of an alternative arrangement, aspects of thesolution may be offered by a SP. A SP may, for example, be realizedthrough any combination of, possibly inter alia, any one or more of (1)an element of a WC, an element of a landline carrier, an element of aICV, or multiple such elements working together; (2) a 3P such aspossibly inter alia a merchant, a CP (such as for example a newsorganization, an advertising agency, a brand, etc.), a financialinstitution, etc.; (3) multiple 3P entities working together; (4) aservice bureau; (5) a message service provider; and/or (6) otherentities.

Referring to FIG. 5, an example block diagram illustrates a system 500.The system 500 is an example implementation of the system 100 of FIG. 1and the system 400 of FIG. 4. The system 500 also may perform theprocess 200 and 300 of FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively. The system 500provides an illustrative framework for an example implementation of thesystem 100, and more specifically, of the intermediary 106 of FIG. 1,where intermediary 406 (or ICV 406) performs the functions ofintermediary 106 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 and reference numeral 500 (see below) depict one particulararrangement that may be possible under an alternative arrangement. Asthe diagram portrays, the messaging traffic of numerous MSs (MS₁402→MS_(a) 404 and MS₁ 110 →MS_(c) 412) that are serviced by WC₁414→WC_(z) 418 is exchanged with the ICV 406 and the ICV 406 isconnected with a specific SP, SP_(N) 502, a SP that offers, possiblyinter alia, aspects of the present solution.

While the discussion above referred to one specific alternativearrangement, it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in therelevant art that numerous other alternative arrangements (includinginter alia the use of multiple SPs; the sharing, blending, etc. offunctionality between an ICV and one or more SPs; etc.) are equallyapplicable and indeed are fully within the scope of the presentsolution.

For simplicity of exposition, portions of the discussion below willinclude a single ICV. As noted above, it will be readily apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous other arrangementsare easily possible (e.g., any combination of one or more of inter aliaa single ICV, multiple ICVs, a single SP, multiple SPs, etc.).

Aspects of the present solution may incorporate one or more repositorieswithin which various pieces of information (such as for exampledefinitional data, artifacts of processing, etc.) may be deposited,updated, managed, extracted, reported on, etc.

Aspects of the present solution may incorporate a delivery channel (SMSmessaging, EMS messaging, MMS messaging, electronic mail, a socket-basedparadigm, IM, etc.) selection process that may leverage any combinationof one or more of inter alia rules (regarding for example timeouts,delays, etc.), logic, repositories, workflows and workflow engines, userpreference information (that may for example be collected during a userregistration process and which may comprise day-of-week details,time-of-day details, location details, security requirements,thresholds, etc.), information on the physical location of the user (viatheir device), requirements/etc. regarding the quanta of data (such asinter alia importance, expiration time, etc.), quality of serviceconstraints, etc.

Referring to FIG. 6, an example flow diagram 600 illustrates various ofthe exchanges or interactions that might occur under an optionalregistration portion of the present solution. Such a registrationprocess may be tailored (e.g., the range of information gathered, thescope of services subsequently offered, etc.) to the class of user—e.g.,possibly inter alia different types, categories, etc. of users maycomplete different registration processes. Additionally, a registrationprocess may be supported or offered by any combination of one or moreentities (e.g., a 3P such as a financial institution, a retailestablishment, an on-line retailer, an employer, a utility company,etc.; a SP; etc.). As well, some or all of the information that iscollected during a registration process may be shared or exchangedbetween any combination of one or more entities (e.g., a SP, a 3P,etc.). Thus, a MS may complete a (required or optional) registrationprocess with any number of entities and aspects of the information thatis collected during a given registration process may be shared orexchanged between any number of entities. The illustrative registrationprocess that is depicted through FIG. 6 is supported or offered by a SP(specifically by SP_(N) 502).

FIG. 6 and flow diagram 600 include the following entities:

MS 602 WD 606. For example, a smartphone, tablet computer, etc.belonging to Mary 602.

MS 602 Personal Computer (PC) 608. For example, a home, work, etc. PC ofMary 602.

WC 610, which is a provider of service for a WD 606 of Mary 602.

ICV 406. An ICV, although not required, provides significant advantages,where intermediary 406 (or ICV 406) performs the functions ofintermediary 106 of FIG. 1.

SP_(N) 602 Web Server (WS) 614. A publicly-available WWW site that isoptionally provided by SP_(N) 502.

SP_(N) 602 Billing Interface (BI) 616. A single, consolidated interfacethat SP_(N) 502 may use to easily reach, possibly inter alia, one ormore internal and/or external entities such as a credit card or debitcard clearinghouse, a carrier billing system, a service bureau thatprovides access to multiple carrier billing systems, invoicing orbilling facilities, etc.

SP_(N) 502 Application Server (AS) 618, which are facilities thatsupport aspects of the present solution.

SP_(N) 502 Gateway (GW) 620, which is a facility through which SP_(N)604 may exchange possibly inter alia (SMS, MMS, etc.) messages,application directives, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or equivalentdata, etc. with possibly inter alia an ICV 406.

It is important to note that while in FIG. 6 the MS 602 WD 606 and MS602 PC 608 entities are illustrated as being adjacent or otherwise neareach other, in actual practice the entities may, for example, bephysically located anywhere. Additionally, numerous alternativeregistration approaches are easily possible involving inter aliadifferent components (e.g., one alternative approach may not include MS602 PC 608), component arrangements, and/or interactions.

In FIG. 6, the exchanges that are collected under the designation Set 1represent the activities that might take place as Mary 602 completes aregistration process with SP_(N) 502:

A) Mary 602 uses one of her PCs 608 to visit a WS 614 of SP_(N) 502 to,possibly among other things, complete a service registration process(see 622→624).

B) AWS 614 of SP_(N) 502 interacts with an AS 618 of SP_(N) 502 to,possibly among other things, commit some or all of the information thatMary 602 provided to one or more data repositories (e.g., a databases),optionally initiate a billing transaction, etc. (see 626).

C) As appropriate and as required a BI 616 completes a billingtransaction (see 628→630).

D) After receiving a response from an AS 618 of SP_(N) 502 (632) a WS614 of SP_(N) 502 responds appropriately (e.g., with the presentation ofa confirmation message, etc.) (see 634→636).

The specific exchanges that were described above (as residing under thedesignation Set 1) are illustrative only and it will be readily apparentto one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous otherexchanges are easily possible and indeed are fully within the scope ofthe present invention. For example, the collected information may bereviewed, confirmed, etc. through one or more manual and/or automaticmechanisms. For example, the registration process may be completedthrough any combination of one or more channels including, inter alia,the WWW, wireless messaging (SMS, MMS, etc.), e-mail messages, IM,conventional mail, telephone, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR)facility, etc.

During the registration process described above a range of informationmay be captured from a MS including, possibly inter alia:

A) Identifying Information. For example, possibly among other things,name, address, age, landline and wireless Telephone Numbers (TNs),e-mail addresses, IM names/identifiers, a unique identifier and apassword, etc.

B) Account Information. For example, possibly among other things,various of the particulars for one or more of a MS' accounts (withorganizations such as, possibly inter alia, utility companies, financialinstitutions, on-line retailers, etc.). The particulars may include,possibly inter alia, organization name and contact details, accountnumber, account access credentials, etc.

C) Security Information. For example, possibly among other things, theselection of one or more of the different security plans, programs, etc.that a SP may optionally offer (each of which may carry, possibly interalia, some type of fee or charge). Such plans, programs, etc. mayprovide, possibly inter alia, alerts to a MS (via, for example, SMS,MMS, E-Mail, IM, etc.) based on various events, criteria, thresholds,etc.; additional levels of notification, confirmation, etc. during atransaction; etc.

D) Billing Information. For example, the particulars (such as, possiblyinter alia, name, account/routing/etc. numbers, etc.) for financialinstitution (bank, brokerage, etc.) accounts, credit cards, debit cards,etc. As well, possibly the selection of one or more of the differentservice billing models may be offered by a SP (including, inter alia, afixed one-time charge, a recurring [monthly, etc.] fixed charge, arecurring [monthly, etc.] variable charge, a per-transaction charge,etc.) and possibly the selection of one or more of the different paymentmechanisms that may be offered by a SP (including, possibly among otherthings, credit or debit card information, authorization to place acharge on a MS's phone bill, authorization to deduct funds from a MS'[bank, brokerage, etc.] account, etc.).

E) Other Information. Additional, possibly optional, information.

The specific pieces of information that were described above areillustrative only and it will be readily apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the relevant art that numerous other pieces of information(e.g., additional Identifying Information, scheduled daily/weekly/etc.reporting desired and/or on-demand reporting desired, etc.) are easilypossible and indeed are fully within the scope of the present invention.

As noted above the information that Mary provided during theregistration process may be preserved in a repository (e.g., a database)and may optionally be organized as a MS Profile.

The content of Mary's profile may be augmented by SP_(N) 502 to include,as just a few examples of the many possibilities, internal and/orexternal demographic, psychographic, sociological, etc. data. In someimplementations, the information collected may be solely for the use ofrouting messages using the appropriate communications channel asselected by the intermediary. In some implementations, only informationthat is needed to route messages is collected and stored.

As noted above, a SP's BI may optionally complete a billing transaction.The billing transaction may take any number of forms and may involvedifferent external entities (e.g., a WC's billing system, a carrierbilling system service bureau, a credit or debit card clearinghouse, afinancial institution, etc.). The billing transaction may include, interalia:

1) The appearance of a line item charge on the bill or statement that aMS receives from her WC.

2) The charging of a credit card or the debiting of a debit card.

3) The (electronic, etc.) transfer of funds.

4) The generation of an invoice, statement, etc.

In FIG. 6, the exchanges that are collected under the designation Set 2represent the activities that might take place as SP_(N) 502 optionallycoordinates, etc. with one or more external entities to, possibly amongother things, secure access, exchange and/or confirm collectedinformation, arrange to receive updates, etc. (see 638→640). During suchexchanges SP_(N) 502 may employ any combination of one or more ofpossibly inter alia an Application Programming Interface (API), aninterface layer, an abstraction layer, communication protocols, etc.

The specific exchanges that were described above (as residing under thedesignation Set 2) are illustrative only and it will be readily apparentto one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous otherexchanges (including, inter alia, updates to various of the informationin a MS Profile in a SP's repository, etc.) are easily possible andindeed are fully within the scope of the present description.

In FIG. 6, the exchanges that are collected under the designation Set 3represent the activities that might take place as an AS 618 of SP_(N)502 dispatches to Mary 602 one or more confirmation e-mail messages (see642→644).

The specific exchanges that were described above (as residing under thedesignation Set 3) are illustrative only and it will be readily apparentto one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous otherexchanges (including, inter alia, the dispatch of multiple e-mailmessages [i.e., multiple instances of the sequence 642→644], the replyby Mary 602 to a received e-mail message, etc.) are easily possible andindeed are fully within the scope of the present invention.

In FIG. 6, the exchanges that are collected under the designation Set 4represent the activities that might take place as an AS 618 of SP_(N)502 dispatches one or more confirmation, opt-in, etc. (SMS, MIMS, etc.)messages to a WD 606 of Mary 602 (646→652) and Mary 602 optionallyreplies or responds to the message(s) (654→660). Of interest and noteare:

In the instant example the messages are shown traversing the ICV 406.

SP_(N) 502 may employ a Short Code (SC) or a regular TN as its sourceaddress (and to which it would ask users of its service to direct anyreply messages).

The specific exchanges that were described above (as residing under thedesignation Set 4) are illustrative only and it will be readily apparentto one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous otherexchanges are easily possible and indeed are fully within the scope ofthe present invention. For example, one or more of a confirmation,opt-in, etc. exchange may incorporate other (e.g., non-message)communication paradigms.

The Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, and Set 4 exchanges that were described aboveare illustrative only and it will be readily apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the relevant art that numerous other exchanges are easilypossible and indeed are fully within the scope of the present invention.For example, possibly inter alia, aspects of the registrationinformation that was described above may subsequently be managed (e.g.,existing information may be edited or removed, new information may beadded, etc.) through any combination of one or more channels including,inter alia, a WWW facility, wireless messaging (SMS, MMS, etc.), e-mailmessages, IM exchanges, conventional mail, telephone, IVR facilities,etc. Additionally, aspects of the registration information may beexchanged with one or more entities (such as possibly inter alia a 3Psuch as a financial institution, a retail establishment, an on-lineretailer, an employer, a utility company, etc.; another SP; etc.).

Aspects of the above can be implemented by software, firmware, hardware,or any combination thereof. Referring to FIG. 7, an example blockdiagram illustrates an example computer system 700 in which the above,or portions thereof, may be implemented as computer-readable code.Various embodiments of the above are described in terms of this examplecomputer system 700. After reading this description, it will becomeapparent to a person skilled in the relevant art how to implement theinvention using other computer systems and/or computer architectures.

Computer system 700 includes one or more processors, such as processor704. Processor 704 can be a special purpose processor or a generalpurpose processor. Processor 704 is connected to a communicationinfrastructure 702 (for example, a bus or a network).

Computer system 700 also includes a main memory 706, preferably RandomAccess Memory (RAM), containing possibly inter alia computer softwareand/or data 708.

Computer system 700 may also include a secondary memory 710. Secondarymemory 710 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 712, a removablestorage drive 714, a memory stick, etc. A removable storage drive 714may comprise a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical diskdrive, a flash memory, or the like. A removable storage drive 714 readsfrom and/or writes to a removable storage unit 716 in a well-knownmanner. A removable storage unit 716 may comprise a floppy disk,magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to byremovable storage drive 714. As will be appreciated by persons skilledin the relevant art(s) removable storage unit 716 includes a computerusable storage medium 718 having stored therein possibly inter aliacomputer software and/or data 720.

In alternative implementations, secondary memory 710 may include othersimilar means for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system 700. Such means may include, for example, aremovable storage unit 724 and an interface 722. Examples of such meansmay include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as thatfound in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as anErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), or ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other removablestorage units 724 and interfaces 722 which allow software and data to betransferred from the removable storage unit 724 to computer system 700.

Computer system 700 may also include an input interface 726 and a rangeof input devices 728 such as, possibly inter alia, a keyboard, a mouse,etc.

Computer system 700 may also include an output interface 730 and a rangeof output devices 732 such as, possibly inter alia, a display, one ormore speakers, etc.

Computer system 700 may also include a communications interface 734.Communications interface 734 allows software and/or data 738 to betransferred between computer system 700 and external devices.Communications interface 734 may include a modem, a network interface(such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal ComputerMemory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, or thelike. Software and/or data 738 transferred via communications interface734 are in the form of signals 736 which may be electronic,electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being received bycommunications interface 734. These signals 736 are provided tocommunications interface 734 via a communications path 740.Communications path 740 carries signals and may be implemented usingwire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, aRadio Frequency (RF) link or other communications channels.

As used in this document, the terms “computer program medium,” “computerusable medium,” and “computer readable medium” generally refer to mediasuch as removable storage unit 716, removable storage unit 724, and ahard disk installed in hard disk drive 712. Computer program medium andcomputer usable medium can also refer to memories, such as main memory706 and secondary memory 710, which can be memory semiconductors (e.g.Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) elements, etc.). These computerprogram products are means for providing software to computer system700.

Computer programs (also called computer control logic) are stored inmain memory 706 and/or secondary memory 710. Computer programs may alsobe received via communications interface 734. Such computer programs,when executed, enable computer system 700 to implement the presentinvention as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs,when executed, enable processor 704 to implement the processes ofaspects of the above. Accordingly, such computer programs representcontrollers of the computer system 700. Where the invention isimplemented using software, the software may be stored in a computerprogram product and loaded into computer system 700 using removablestorage drive 714, interface 722, hard drive 712 or communicationsinterface 734.

The invention is also directed to computer program products comprisingsoftware stored on any computer useable medium. Such software, whenexecuted in one or more data processing devices, causes data processingdevice(s) to operate as described herein. Embodiments of the inventionemploy any computer useable or readable medium, known now or in thefuture. Examples of computer useable mediums include, but are notlimited to, primary storage devices (e.g., any type of random accessmemory), secondary storage devices (e.g., hard drives, floppy disks,Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) disks, Zip disks, tapes, magneticstorage devices, optical storage devices, Microelectromechanical Systems(MEMS), nanotechnological storage device, etc.), and communicationmediums (e.g., wired and wireless communications networks, local areanetworks, wide area networks, intranets, etc.).

Method steps may be performed by one or more programmable processorsexecuting a computer program to perform functions by operating on inputdata and generating output. Method steps also may be performed by, andan apparatus may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

While certain features of the described implementations have beenillustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions,changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. Itis, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended tocover all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of theembodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented system for message processing, the system comprising: an intermediary that is interposed between a source and a destination, wherein the source comprises a first computing device and the destination comprises a second computing device, wherein the intermediary comprises: a gateway that is configured to receive a message from the source, wherein the message comprises a source address, a destination address, and a body and the message comprises one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, an instant message (IM) message, or an E-Mail message; a plurality of communication channels; and a decision engine, that is operably coupled to the gateway and the plurality of communication channels, wherein the decision engine is configured to: perform a lookup operation against at least one repository using at least the destination address and one or more pre-defined rules, wherein the one or more pre-defined include rules relating to one or more of communication channel preferences and a communication channel active status, identify a first communication channel and a second communication channel from the plurality of communication channels using at least an outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules, route aspects of the message towards the destination using the first communication channel using at least the outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules, and selectively route aspects of the message towards the destination using the second communication channel using at least the outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules.
 2. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the source address and the destination address each are either a telephone number or a short code.
 3. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the decision engine comprises a security module.
 4. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the first communication channel comprises a socket-based communication channel.
 5. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein first communication channel comprises a secure connection between the first communication channel and the destination using a unique channel.
 6. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the destination comprises a mobile device.
 7. A computer-implemented method for executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the method comprising: receiving, at an intermediary disposed between a source and a destination, a message from the source for transmission to the destination, the message comprising a source address, a destination address, and a body, wherein the source comprises a first computing device and the destination comprises a second computing device and the message comprises one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, an instant message (IM) message, or an E-Mail message; performing a lookup operation against at least one repository using at least the destination address and one or more pre-defined rules, wherein the one or more pre-defined include rules relating to one or more of communication channel preferences and a communication channel active status; identifying a first communication channel and a second communication channel from a plurality of communication channels using at least an outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules; routing aspects of the message towards the destination using the first communication channel using at least the outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules; and selectively routing aspects of the message towards the destination using the second communication channel using at least the outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the source address and the destination address each are either a telephone number or a short code.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the first communication channel comprises a socket-based communication channel.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein first communication channel comprises a secure connection between the first communication channel and the destination using a unique channel.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the destination comprises a mobile device.
 12. A computer program product for message processing, the computer program product being tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one computing device, are configured to cause the at least one computing device to: receive, at an intermediary disposed between a source and a destination, a message from the source for transmission to the destination, the message comprising a source address, a destination address, and a body, wherein the source comprises a first computing device and the destination comprises a second computing device and the message comprises one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, an instant message (IM) message, or an E-Mail message; perform a lookup operation against at least one repository using at least the destination address and one or more pre-defined rules, wherein the one or more pre-defined include rules relating to one or more of communication channel preferences and a communication channel active status; identify a first communication channel and a second communication channel from a plurality of communication channels using at least an outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules; route aspects of the message towards the destination using the first communication channel using at least the outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules; and selectively route aspects of the message towards the destination using the second communication channel using at least the outcome of the lookup operation including the one or more pre-defined rules.
 13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the source address and the destination address each are either a telephone number or a short code.
 14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the first communication channel comprises a socket-based communication channel.
 15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein first communication channel comprises a secure connection between the first communication channel and the destination using a unique channel.
 16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the destination comprises a mobile device.
 17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the second communication channel comprises a short message service (SMS) communication channel. 